When the unthinkable happens, the lighthouse is hope.
Once we choose hope, everything is possible.
― Christopher Reeves
Therapy Specialties
Illness, Dying, Grief
In our culture there is little space devoted to exploring illness, death and dying, and grief.
Turning away from these facets of life may serve us well until we experience a medical diagnosis or trauma that changes the way we live in the world. As a therapist, I join clients on a journey of exploration into this part of life, which is often difficult to face. We create space for complicated emotions to arise, like uncertainty, loneliness, sadness, anger, and fear. I help clients process their feelings, explore concepts of identity, legacy, & new meaning, and develop internal resilience in the face of uncertainty.
Trauma/EMDR
The simple act of living can be traumatic. As human beings, we are constantly in relationship with the world around us, and sometimes we can experience an event, relationship, or environment that is overwhelming to our nervous system and causes significant emotional pain. Some examples of traumatic experiences include childhood neglect or abuse, accidents, toxic relationships, a life-changing medical diagnosis, and the death of a loved one, to name a few.
While our body’s response to trauma is initially protective, we can sometimes remain in an activated state due to the way our brains store the memory. When we experience trauma, our brains store the images and feelings related to the trauma in the rudimentary parts of our brains, rather than the prefrontal cortex, meaning that the event remains unprocessed and without orientation to date and time. This means that the memories of our trauma can feel like a real and present danger, rather than something in the past.
Some signs of an ongoing trauma response that may need the support of a therapist can include:
Fight-or-Flight Response: Feeling anxious and agitated, physiological symptoms including increased heart rate, sweating, trembling
Freeze Response: Feeling numb, dissociated, paralyzed
Fawn Response: Being overly agreeable as a way to mitigate a perceived threat
Avoidance: Avoiding of thoughts, feelings, or situations that are related to the trauma
Intrusive Thoughts: Nightmares, flashbacks, unwanted memories
Emotional Dysregulation: Anger, sadness, guilt, fear, shame
Changes in Sleep and Appetite
Physiological Symptoms: Headaches, stomachaches, fatigue, muscle tension
My Approach to EMDR
I treat trauma by utilizing AF-EMDR (attachment focused eye movement desensitization reprocessing). AF-EMDR helps clients process traumatic experiences and build internal resources, all within the safety and trust of the therapeutic relationship. AF-EMDR is gentle, compassionate, and moves at your pace. With the use of bilateral stimulation (i.e. eye movement, vibrating handheld devices, or bilateral audio sound), we both calm your nervous system and rewire your traumatic experiences so they come together as a coherent narrative that you will relate to as a past experience.
AF-EMDR can be a powerful tool for processing grief.
It can integrate traumatic aspects of a death or decline. It can help process sticky grief emotions, like guilt and regret. It can also help heal unresolved aspects of a relationship, and create new meaning and continuing bonds with those you’ve lost.
While grief has no fixed timetable, the hope is that it will ease and soften with time.
Sometimes, however, the pain of loss continues to feel just as raw and consuming months - or even years - later. Prolonged Grief (PG) is a form of grief that remains intense, unrelenting, and disruptive, at least a year or longer after a loss. If you feel like your life stopped the day your loved one died, you’re not alone. You may feel stuck, frozen in time, and unable to move forward while the world moves around you. If this sounds familiar, help and healing is available.
What is Prolonged Grief Treatment (PGT)?
Prolonged Grief Treatment (PGT) is a research-backed therapy developed at Columbia University to support people experiencing persistent, life-altering grief. PGT is more than just talking about your grief. We follow a carefully designed structure within a clear timeframe and with targeted goals.
Together, we will gently process the pain of the loss, address areas of stuckness, and support you in reconnecting with your own sense of meaning and purpose. You do not have to let go of your loved one in order to feel alive again. Instead, you will learn to carry the memory of your loved one with you. If you’ve been grieving for a long time and feel ready to take the next step, I am here to help.
Prolonged Grief Treatment
Life Transitions
To be human is to be in transition.
Sometimes these transitions are challenging, leaving us feeling ungrounded, worried, and sad. As a therapist, I help clients explore and define their intentions, overcome obstacles, and grow their capacity to cope and transform.
Anxiety and Depression
Most of us experience feelings of anxiety and depression at some point in our lives as we confront various life stressors. These feelings are often a normal reaction to challenging situations.
Sometimes, however, we experience anxiety and/or depression in an ongoing way. We may experience symptoms like a lingering sad or anxious mood, intrusive or disturbing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, low motivation, decrease in self confidence, and decreased interest in life. As a therapist, I work with clients to decrease symptoms through analyzing and creating new thinking and behavior patterns, exploring life style changes, enhancing resilience through stress-reduction, and increasing support.